Pop Rocks
by duchess-of-shipping
Summary: Zack was not like anyone Trini had ever met, and she quite liked it. (Zack X Trini. Original Might Morphin'.)


If you were to ask Trini Kwan how she would characterize her relationship with Zack Taylor, she would have to say that it definitely reminded her of pop rocks.

But Zack wasn't some temporary candy, though he could most assuredly be as sweet as candy from time to time.

It all started when Zack had been looking for recruits for a Karate Class at the Angel Grove Youth Center, and he'd barged into every after school class and club at Angel Grove High just to get some.

He'd finally made it to the Gym, where Trini was practicing her _Kata_ and flipping around the mat and spin-kicking the air.

She'd looked so fierce, and yet so light and graceful and Zack felt drawn in; he just had to talk to this girl.

Trini felt that he just...popped into her life, as if magic sent him down on this Earth just to talk to her.

They'd talked for a while (He was quite funny, and that adorable smile he got when she laughed at a joke was heart-melting).

They felt themselves being sucked into each other as they talked, being suffocated by each other gently, and they loved every minute of it.

Zack was just so hilarious and endearing, and Trini was a good listener and had the most amazing, jovial laugh in the universe.

From then on, Zack would quite literally pop up like that all the time.

When she was practicing, pop. When she was studying, pop. When she was teaching, pop. When she needed a shoulder to cry on, pop. When she was about to get hurt by a monster as The Yellow Ranger, pop.

Why, he did it so often that she began to suspect that this was his most favorite thing to do, sneak up on Trini and strike up a conversation, or just check on the girl every now and again.

It was incredibly sweet of him, and Trini found herself really appreciating Zack.

However, she started noticing the way he popped differently.

The way his divine back muscles popped out at her when he lifted weights, which made her hands tremble with the need to touch them.

It was the way a smile would just pop onto his face whenever she entered a room, or talked to him, as if he enjoyed her company and there was no one he'd rather see than her.

It was the way he popped in to check on her, or the way he popped to to her aid when she was in emotional or physical pain.

It was the way her heart and stomach popped with fireworks when he put an arm around her, or hugged her, or tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

It was the pop her mind did when it exploded into nothingness, because she couldn't think straight when he was around her.

And one night, when she's curled up under his strong arm while they're watching Disney movies, and he changes the gauze and ice bag on her twisted ankle, she notices how his movements pop out suddenly when she feels the slightest bit uncomfortable.

She doesn't know how he knows, but he does, and she likes that he does.

Trini has never been good at asking for any kind of help, so it's refreshing to have someone she doesn't have to ask.

He'll pop in, no questions asked, and know what's wrong before she can even voice that she's OK, that he shouldn't worry and _Zach, it is 3:00 in the morning I swear I am fine._

So it comes as no surprise that one late night, at Tommy's birthday party, she leads him onto a balcony at Tommy's house.

Zach is framed by the moonlight, and the stars pop in his eyes. There's that smile, and she feels the need to get closer...

 _Closer...  
_  
And the next thing she knows, she has her palms flat on his smooth, cleanly shaven face and her lips are sealed with his in a contract more powerful than even legal ramifications.

Zack's hands settle on her hips as he pulls her into him, and she feels the pops again.

This time, they're the pops of fireworks. Her entire body feels like a pop rock as she kisses the man that popped in, but forgot how to pop out. She feels more alive, _more real,_ than she's ever felt, and it was amazing.

And what happened after that little bit of candy?

Well, let's just say the pops after were more cherry bomb than pop rock.


End file.
